Schalke lose 3-0 at 1. FC Köln

Serdar and Mascarell injured

S04 were without two of their key midfield men for the Topspiel in Cologne. Suat Serdar broke his toe in the final training session on Friday, while Omar Mascarell was also unavailable due to an adductor problem. Nassim Boujellab and Alessandro Schöpf replaced the absentees. The other change from the Leipzig defeat saw Michael Gregoritsch come in to the team for Rabbi Matondo.

Bornauw and Cordoba score for FC

The ball was in the back of the Schalke net after just seven minutes, although it was quickly ruled out for offside. Florian Kainz was standing in an offside position and obstructed Alexander Nübel’s view, thus Jonas Hector’s goal was ruled out. Nevertheless, the home side had the lead just a minute later. Sebastiaan Bornauw headed in a Kainz corner in the eighth minute.

The hosts continued to control the game, pressing Schalke high up the pitch and creating a number of opportunities for themselves. Jhon Cordoba was able to take one of those in the 39th minute after a quick counter initiated by Elvis Rexhbecaj. Schalke’s only real positive moment in the first half came on the stroke of half time. Michael Gregoritsch couldn’t poke the ball bast Timo Horn.

The Royal Blues had to take off Ozan Kabak in the first period after the Turkey international suffered an injury after an aerial duel with Cordoba. He was replaced by Jean-Clair Todibo in the 29th minute.

No Schalke goals once again

Schalke came into the game more after the break, but failed to get themselves into dangerous positions to score any goals. Köln were happy to sit back and soak up the pressure after their dominant first-half display.

Weston McKennie had Schalke’s best shot in the second half, although the American couldn’t keep his long-rang effort down (70’). Shortly afterwards, Köln had their third. Florian Kainz dribbled past two players in the box and pulled the trigger. His shot was initially easily held by Alexander Nübel, however the ball then slipped out of his grasp and went underneath him into the back of the net (75’). The own goal was the final notable action of the evening, meaning it ended 3-0.

Two home games in the next week

The Knappen have two tricky tasks ahead of them. FC Bayern will come to the VELTINS-Arena on Tuesday night (3/3, 20:45 CET) for the DFB-Pokal quarterfinal, before Wagner’s side will host TSG 1899 Hoffenheim the following Saturday (7/3, 15:30 CET).